Daily Republican., 1887-11-05
rirss ssursh As.svsrs..y.

sirss shursh fsssvsssary.
Yesterday afternoon and evening the
160th apuiversasy of the Eirst preshy-
seKiAn ohnsch ~ this city Va celebrated
tn the auditoslum Of that church. The
exercises opened 81 $50 D. "A. By the
singing Of IN appropriate hymn by the
choir. Prayer WAS offered By tho Rev.
A. N. Keigwin. The Rev. II. d. Lind
ssy then Introduced the Rev. J. p,
Smith Of Baltimore, who had been
chosen unanimously BY the oouereGs.
tion 10 make an address On shis occa.
sion.
MI. 6nith sald this was one Of the
historic churches Of this country, and Ia
wa right at time like this 70 read iss
history. II would DO . good thing TO
read she names OF former pastors and
members Of the congregation, some o /
whom were sleeping bat : few Sset dis.
tant. IL wss not for him, however, he
said. 10 speak Of tho men whs have ex-
ercisod 20 much influence on the bomes
and hearts Of the congFeeatior. 1t wss
rather for him 70 speak OF the thines
which interest us ~ part Of this great
nation In these days OF centennial csle-
brAtious. Mr.. smith then alluded 70
the constitutional centennial celebration
Ia Phtladelphia few weeks aao. The
birth OF the nation was celehrssed with
magnidcsnt pagcant. Tho nations
OF history, said the speaker, com pared
With this one, are bus isiands. end their
dtssp1earauce would hardly be noticed
from the map OF the world.
Remembering these things, what q
magnificent heritage have We received
ut she HAND Of our Father. Who can
grasp the oonceptionf See the fertile
Nile valleys ousspread into vast plains.
The hilisides are covered With riohss.
The mines are iuexhAustible, and she
whole land 10 blcat with corn sud wine
without stint With the resosrces Of
the nstion only partially developed. We
a.e tho richest nation on the globe.
What will u be when oil tho acfes are
inhabited, and when all ths mines shAll
be workeds Bee she crowds Of people
Who sre Cooking 70 orr shore tn m
evsr-incfeaspg number. II sesna "a
though God had made this young ns-
tlon the ordained ssaohar OF she world
and shat he 10 sendipg the world 70 az
to be taught.
Afser ssss Of wandering ths tribes
arc oouine homo. The Saxon, Oelt and
the 0aul ars mixing and nineling the
old world civilization TO make us the
great people Of tho coming ages. Hb.
tory proves that mixed nations are the
strongest, and God 10 sending to us
these elements Of strength. Let as not
forget shat dangers come, too. The
struggles Of eighteen centuries are to be
renewed here, she battles are 10 be
fought over and the Anal Victories arc
20 be won. A Pfesbyterians We are .
part Of the history Of this nation; our
Puritan suceators oame here TO fnd q
place where they could worship God
To found . church without bishop,
aud nation without king. The he.
rces OF this nation have been Christian
men.
know Of but tive members Of the
convention which msds the Constitu-
sion Of the United States that did NOT
accept the revelation OF the Gospel OF
Jesus Christ ~ divine. OF these Ben.
1amtn franklin suggested that the de.
liberations Of the convention should be
begun BY prayer, and the other one,
Thomas Jefferson, fnerafted the faith
Of God Into tho Declaration of Inde-
pendence. 1t 10 not generally known
ishat two conventions were Ia sessi0n
land working along the same lines ut
the same time, bnt IL 10 true, and 1t 10
also true shat the strength OF the church
and OF the nation is drawn from the
teachings OF the Bible and from the
preached gospel OF Jesus Christ.
A. the close Of DR.. Smiths remarks
the choir sang an appropriate hymn,
after which the congregation was dis
missed with the benediction.
In the evening the Rev. O. q. Kel.
loRg, formerly pastor OF the church, de-
livered = historic address datlax from
the year 1871. Mr.. Kellogg gave an
aecouut Of she founding BY . number
of Scotch and Irish Presby terians Pre-.
vious to this the nearest church of their
faith Vas - New Castle. In this year,
however, . site for . burying ground
WAS selected, and In December Of the
same year IN aero Of ground vAs pur-
chased for that purpose. This lot 10 the
ons now occupied by tho cemetery Of
the First Church, including the sites OF
the two church buildings. Three years
after this purchase the old church
building, ~ the corner of Tenth and
Msrket streets, was erected, On the
north side Of this building the date Of
It's erection, 17l0, is inscribed on the
side OF the wall and may still be dc.
ciphtTed.
For several years After ths congrega.
tion worshipping in this church had
only m occasional pulpit supply. The
pkttor of New Castle, the Rev. John
Cathcart, an Irishman, preached for
them on every fourth Sunday. and this
wss the first regular supply Of the pull
pit. All this occurred previous to 17b9.
In June Of that year the Rev. William
MoKennap, another nstive OF Ireland,
preached for this congregation, and
shortly after agreed TO give half OF his
time to the services OF the church.
In April, 1878, call was extended to
the Rev. Joseph Smith, inviting him to
fill the pulpit on the days of McKsn.
mans absence, aud this call he accepted.
Very soon, however, this conjoiutly NJ
ranged pastorate resulted In . division
Of the church. Mr.. Smiths friends
Withdrew from the church. After
much discussion and msny remon.
stranocs the difficulty was Eettled by
the formiug Of the Second Church.
This congregation built . ohuroh build.
ing ut the CORNER Of Fifth and Walnut
streets. The building 10 still standing
apd In use by the German Baptists.
In 1875 the pastoral relations OF the
Rev. Mr.. NoK ennan WAS diss ,lved and
this church, which had slmost been
amotbered By the success Of the Second
Church. begun to revive. Aftsr m In
terval Of ten months the Rev. Francis
Aliron LattA was installed ~ pastor on !
November 2S, 1895. In 1908 Mr.. Lstsa
resigned and was stfccseded nine years
ialer by the Rev. Mr.. Snowden, whose |
pastorate closed in one year. After
four years the Rsv! Thomas Reed, ID. |
D., began his lsbors. Uuder his ad-
ministratlon the Sunday school began